KEY POINTS:
Russell Coutts is reputed to be earning €10 million (NZ$17m) as chief executive and skipper for BMW Oracle's next America's Cup campaign - and his first task may be to skipper a 90-foot (24.5m) catamaran in a legally inspired raid to take the Cup off Alinghi.
Cup sources say Oracle is designing a 90-foot (24.5m) catamaran in preparation for a court challenge to Alinghi's unpopular protocol for the America's Cup.
BMW Oracle and billionaire boss Larry Ellison have applied to the New York Supreme Court, saying they want to force Alinghi to negotiate a fairer protocol with challengers.
Others say Oracle wants to force a win in court - meaning they would race a best-of-three match with Alinghi next July with a boat of their own specifications. Team New Zealand and other challengers would be cut out.
This week, Oracle are expected to file an injunction to stop Alinghi's preparations for the next Cup - forcing the matter into court. However, there is also a feeling that Oracle are becoming isolated, with Team New Zealand lodging a conventional challenge with Alinghi last week.
At a press conference, Coutts, who left Alinghi after falling out with team leader Ernesto Bertarelli said: "I believe the position BMW Oracle has is a strong one and the correct one."
However, a Cup source said: "It would not be good for the America's Cup if Russell is playing a role in this strategy to keep alive his spat with Bertarelli."
His former shipmate Brad Butterworth, skipper of Alinghi, was scathing in his assessment of the court action: "They are determined to destroy the next America's Cup for their own selfish ends."